英语教学法论文--英语游戏教学.doc

英语教学法论文-英语游戏教学 AcknowledgmentsFirst and foremost I would like to show my deepest gratitude to my Supervisor Ms Feng Jing a respectable responsible and resourceful scholar who has provided me with valuable guidance in every stage of the writing of this thesis Without her enlightening instruction impressive kindness and patience I could not have completed my thesis I shall extend my thanks to all my teachers who have helped me to develop the fundamental and essential academic studyLast but not least Id like to thank all my friends especially my lovely roommates for their encouragement and supportAbstractPlaying game in English is one of the effective ways in English study and it is suitable for the development of pupils physiological characteristics From the significance of games in childrens English teaching the thesis introduces the reliability any application of games teaching in English and its importance The thesis uses research methods such as questionnaires and classroom observation to investigate the effectiveness of using games in the teaching process This thesis holds game-teaching approach should be adopted in childrens English teaching and also probes into the reliability of using games in the process From the result almost all the students show great interest in English learning Game teaching can arouse students interest in English learningKey words English game teaching interest effectivenss primary school摘 要 游戏教学是一种有效的英语学习方法它适合孩子身心发展的特点文章从游戏在儿童教学中的意义着手说明游戏的重要性并探究了其可操作性笔者采用问卷调查和课堂观察法等语言学习研究方法提出了在小学英语教学中采用游戏教学可以提高学生英语学习的兴趣从调查结果分析来看游戏教学可以提高学生英语学习的兴趣关 键 词英语游戏教学 兴趣 效果 小学IntroductionSince the year 2001 English has become a required lesson in the primary school from Grade 3 Primary English Teaching Syllabus points out interest is a good teacher for pupils to learn a foreign Language And its an important task for primary school English teachers to arouse students interest at present How to arouse the interest is the key for language teaching Playing games in English teaching is one of effective ways which are fit for the development of childrens physiological and psychological characteristics The game is childrens nature For children the game is to live and the life is a game Playing games can foster childrens abilities such as their intelligence perception and so on Many scholars agree that games in the language classroom have been considered a better way to encourage children to work hard and cultivate their interest in clearing English Children enjoy playing games in their native and this is a familiar experience for children to be introduced to study a foreign languageWith the development of society and improvement of civilization English teaching methods in primary schools are changing Game teaching has been used from the ancient time It makes teaching more effective When teachers use games in English teaching they must be known that what kind of games can be used How to play English games How to design games This thesis aims to prove the advantages of game teaching in improving primary school students interest in English learning This thesis is divided into 3 parts The first part is the history and present situations of game teaching The second is theoretical ideas of this paper and the advantages of game teaching To build a cheerful and light-hearted environment let the students in a relaxed and happy environment to learn English they will be markedly improved It begins with the definition of interest the analysis of the relationship between interest and motivation The kinds of games the features of games the advantages of the games and some advice on how to use games The last is the experiment which was carried out in Grade 4 You Huai Primary School1 The history and present situations of game teachingGame teaching is one of teaching activities Although the theory of game teaching came into being in modern times from ancient times practice and exposition on game teaching have existed11 Froebels game teaching German educator Friedrich Froebel is the father of childrens education in western countries Froebel designed special educational materials and activities that formed the core of the kindergarten curriculum These were called gifts occupations and mother plays The gifts were a set of geometric shapes such as balls cubes and cylinders and materials like cut paper and string Children used these gifts to perform a sequence of highly structured activities called occupations such as sewing designs with colored threads folding paper weaving mats Using their gifts in the various occupations children were learning geometric relationships and understanding fundamental principles of knowledge The mother plays were a series of finger plays games and songs designed to teach children about their bodies senses and enabled children to practice self control cooperation and taking turns Froebel is considered the first one who probed into game teaching systematically and he is also the first one who advocated that games should be integrated into learning Froebels theory was firstly based on scientific knowledge of the childrens psychological and physiological development and laid a strong foundation of making game teaching ripen progressively But from the point of present game teaching of view Froebels game teaching was only called teaching practice12 The theory and the practice of contemporary game teaching Contemporary game teaching not only became the main activity of Childerss education but also embodied different grades in primary schools It became one of effective mechanisms of linking up kindergartens and primary schools Education is the cradle of a talented person Many countries paid much attention to education especially elementary education How to improve teaching quality in the primary school and how to solve the problem of childrens interest have become very urgent and important Introducing learning games in the primary school has aroused general concern in many countries In the 1940s Japan started studying the relationship between kindergartens and primary schools Some teachers used some useful games in primary schools American educators also devoted much attention to this research They used so many games in primary schools In the 1950s in the Soviet Union the teachers in lower grades adapted games to reduce the degree of study and create good conditions for learning From ancient times Chinese people thought highly of childrens education In Song Dynasty private schools paid much attention to the childrens interests Zhu Xi also stressed the importance of happy teaching Since 1949 Chinese education has changed greatly Many childrens educators have achieved great success in game teaching They have summed up a lot of games or activities such as teaching through childrens songs teaching in situations simulating teaching P E games and so on Generally speaking teachers should design and use rich and varied games according to teaching aims teaching contents and teaching aids which provided the abundant sensitive faculty materials for us to tally up the game teaching mode In the contemporary Mr Chen Heqin was one of the greatest educators who made the outstanding contribution to Chinese childrens education and set up the first research center of childrens education-Kindergarten in Gulou Many games there were full of creating He expounded that games were activities that were beneficial to childrens psychological and physiological development Only games could make children lively and teachers should make good use of all kinds of game materials and give them enough chances to practice according to their age From modern age to the contemporary game teaching theory has been improved step by step Many educators philosophers or thinkers encouraged children to play games They presented games should be integrated with learning Now more and more people abroad and at home come to realize the importance and the urgency of game teaching in the primary school As we all know game teaching is a very useful way to improve primary school English teaching effectiveness13 The problems of game teaching From above domestic and foreign game theory we have discovered that at present the domestic and foreign game theory had the very big development in the teaching tested also accumulated many precious experiences these theories inspected in the education today regarding us the game factor still has the extremely important inspiration significance But only has such discussion is by far insufficient These theories looked like in today still had the deficiency mainly manifested in following several aspects First although recent years game teaching however has been widely applied in the teaching activity but these games all is aims at the pre-school education and the elementary school lower grade various discipline The game designs also all are aim lower grade elementary school students Also lacks the enough research to each kind of age section discipline game teaching Secondly its one-sidedness is inevitable These neglects easily affect the development of game teaching to cause one-sidedness2 Theoretical basisCreating a joyful and active classroom is a big and complex issue Of all the topics of activating students interest games and their influence on pupils interest is particularly concerned 21The definition of games What are games in an EFLESL environment The answer given by the Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics Richards Plat 1995 is A game in language teaching is an organized activity that usually has the following properties a a particular task or objectives b a set of rules c competition between players d communication between players by spoken or written language Language games are not activities mainly aimed to break the ice between students or to kill time Byrne 1995 gave the definition to games as a form of play governed by rules They should be enjoyed and fun They are not just a diversion a break from routine activities but a way of getting the learner to use the language in the course of the game Similarly Jill Hadfield 1990 defined games as an activity with rules a goal and an element of fun Therefore games involve many factors rules competition relaxation and learning in particular The main focus of using game in class is to help students learn and have fun However to use games in classrooms it is equally important that before playing the rules of the games are clearly explained and well understood by the students There should be only a few well-explained rules Demonstrations can be very helpful too because it can help students understand the game and help them follow the rules Otherwise they will misunderstand the purpose of the game and they may not get the benefits they should from the game In playing games competition is very important because it can stimulate and encourage students to participate in the activity since naturally they want to beat the other teams As it happens in the dictation game students run as fast as possible remember as much as they can and speak as loudly and clearly as they can They run quickly back and forth trying to memorize the content as much as possible While playing students have fun relax exercise and tease their friends Apart from having fun students learn at the same time They acquire new vocabulary along with its spelling and pronunciation Students begin to realize that they have to speak or pronounce the words clearly if they want others to understand what they are saying22 The importance of interest Interest is a kind of power what can drive people to learn actively and happily And interest makes learning more effective and efficient There is a saying says interest is the best teacher It also means that you will learn better if you are interested in it So how to arouse students interest to study is a very important and critical problem for a teacher to consider and solve In learning English it is very important to motivate and develop the studentsinterest Interest is not with the baby when it was born It grows with each passing day For those preparatory students who have just entered primary school how to arouse thed interest of the students is a new subject before teachers Most of them are afraid of learning English especially reciting texts remembering lots of new words and expression This will make resistance for them to study English We cant make it a condition that students can recite how many new words and texts to measure the standard of learning English We should develop the students抜nterest of studying English As interest is a source interest is a motive power of study it can make students sustain a long time to study English So interest is one of the key elements Teachers have to create a healthy balance between preparing students for the standardized exams and for life-long language skills One solution is to develop a continuous program which includes an integrated in-class and out-of-class language activities that help to nurture student language skill In our primary school students are usually lacking in atmosphere of learning English But they are lively and they have wide interests They are eager to show themselves To take the advantage of educational method of physiology and psychology we should make use of the characteristic of the primary school students221Motivation Motivation can be classified into two types integrative and instrumental Integrative motivation is indicated when learners wish to integrate themselves into the culture of the second language group If the learners believe that acquiring a second language is instrumental in furthering their educational or career goals their motivation is referred to as instrumental For primary school students it seems that neither instrumental nor integrative motivation is a factor in enhancing their foreign language learning The motivation for learning a foreign language for kindergarten children may be very different from that of older learners because young children do not usually ask to learn a foreign language Where does their motivation come from Initially their motivation comes from their parents who enroll them in the kindergarten English course Therefore during the learning of a second language parental support and encouragement are also important The expectations and attitudes of parents in a society regarding the foreign language can also influence the results of childrens learning If society and parents have a positive attitude toward the foreign language it gives children motivation to learn that language On the contrary if society and parents have a negative attitude toward the foreign language it will decrease the interest in learning that language Second the English learning results of a young beginner are to a large extent dependent on the teacher The teacher can give children encouragement and praise to motivate them The personality of the English teacher and the teachers treatment of students also have an influence on young childrens ability to learn a second language Children often seek their teachers approval They want the teacher to notice them and appreciate what they are doing Harmer 1998 7 Whether or not the student likes the teacher may also affect their motivation A teachers positive attitude and behavior can motivate childrens interest in learning English Thirdly if the teaching is appropriate children will discover that learning another language is within their capacity and this knowledge will strengthen their motivation William R 198826 Childrens motivation comes from the enjoyment and pleasure experienced in the learning situation If the class is boring children will become unmotivated A crucial aspect of language teaching is to raise students motivation with enjoyable teaching methods Children have the ability to learn language through games and activities that they find joyful How can a learning situation be joyful This joyfulness can be found in English classes full of play 23 The advantages of using games in language teaching As we know language learning is not easy work Games can help and encourage many learners to sustain their interest They play an important role in language teaching Here are many valid reasons for using games in language teaching including affective reasons cognitive reasons and linguistic reasons They provide insights into the benefits of games in the classroom Many scholars point out the advantage of games in language teaching just like Lee Su Kim suggesteda Games are a welcome break from the usual routine of the language classb They are motivating and challengingc Learning a language requires a great deal of effort Games help students to make and sustain the effort of leaningd Games provide language practice in the various skills-speaking writing listening and readinge They encourage students to interact and communicatef They create a meaningful context for language useAs for ESL teachers they should consider the advantages of games the ability to capture students attention lower students stress and give students the chance for real communication231 Types of language games in the primary school classroom Classifying games into categories can be difficult because categories often overlap Hadfield 1999 explains two ways of classifying language games First she divides language games into two types linguistic games and communicative games Linguistic games focus on accuracy On the other hand communicative games focus on successful exchange of information and ideas such as two people identifying the differences between their two pictures which are similar to one another but not exactly alike Correct language usage though still important is secondary to achieving the communicative